This collection contains abstracts for property mainly in the Lakewood area of East Dallas and a small area of Highland Park, prepared by the Hexter Title Company. Office files of the Dines and Kraft Building Company, plus architectural drawings, blue prints and maps are a large portion of the collection.

The arrangement consists of three series using the job numbers assigned by Dines and Kraft:

SERIES I: TITLE ABSTRACTS - HEXTER TITLE COMPANY

SERIES II: JOB FILES DINES AND KRAFT BUILDING COMPANY - contains contracts, receipts, correspondence and other office files created by the company.

SERIES III: PLANS, BLUEPRINTS, MAPS AND OTHER OVERSIZED ITEMS

Three sets of indexes were created in order to aid researchers.

1. Name index using property owners and box-folder numbers.

2. Street index - includes job number and box-folder numbers.

3. Job number index - includes street address for known job numbers.

Because a portion of the files were unsalvageable a complete record of all properties does not exist. The three sets of indexes were created from the information available. The indexes are an indication of the addresses in the Dines & Kraft Real Estate Developments, however there are many homes that are not included due to the missing files.

The abstracts in Series I survey portions of the Country Club Estates, Westlake Park and a few abstracts for Highland park. The abstracts use block and lot numbers instead of street names and are not indexed.

This material is an excellent source for the history of land in the Lakewood area. Especially useful are the Title Abstracts in Series I because they trace land ownership from early settlement to Dines and Kraft development in the 1930s. The materials are also a good source for prices of construction, housing costs and other Real Estate business dealings.

This material was found in a home in the Lakewood area by the purchaser and donated to the Dallas Public Library. Unfortunately the items had been stored in plastic trash bags in a damp garage for an extensive period of time. A portion of the collection was water and insect damaged beyond salvage and discarded.